In 2006, the overall costs from excessive drinking in the United States reached $223.5 billion, according to findings from a new study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"That amounts to almost $750 for every person in the country, or about $1.90 per drink," CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden said during an Oct. 17 teleconference.
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The harms of heavy drinking are far-reaching and include many different aspects of society, including child maltreatment, homicide, suicide, and domestic violence.
Nearly three-quarters of the $223.5 billion price tag was tied to losses in workplace activity (72%), followed by health care expenses for problems caused by excessive drinking (11%), law enforcement and other criminal justice expenses (9%), motor vehicle crash costs (6%), and other effects (2%).
"While we know that excess drinking is not a new public health problem, we recognize that it has been at times easy to lose sight of the enormous impact it has on our lives and on our wallets, because binge drinking results in binge spending – not only by the person who drinks but also for families, communities, and society," Dr. Frieden said. "There are substantial costs to all of us.
"The harms of heavy drinking are far-reaching and include many different aspects of our society – chronic health problems such as cirrhosis of the liver; inflammation of the pancreas; cancer; high blood pressure; mental health problems; injuries such as motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings, burns, and violence – including child maltreatment, homicide, suicide, and domestic violence."
For the study, which appears in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (Am J Prev Med 2011;41:516-24), Ellen E. Bouchery and her colleagues gathered national data from multiple sources, including the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact Application, the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol-Related Conditions, and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in an effort to estimate the costs resulting from excessive drinking in 2006, the most recent year for which data were generally available.
A previous study by the Lewin Group, a consulting firm based in Falls Church, Va., found that the cost of alcohol misuse in the United States was about $185 billion in 1998.
In the current study, entitled "Economic Costs of Excessive Alcohol Consumption in the U.S., 2006," Ms. Bouchery and her colleagues defined excessive alcohol consumption as binge drinking (four or more drinks per occasion for a woman, and five or more drinks per occasion for a man); heavy drinking (more than one drink per day on average for a woman, and more than two drinks per day on average for a man); and any alcohol consumption by pregnant women or underage youth. They found that about $94.2 billion (42%) of the total economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption were borne by federal, state, and local governments while $92.9 billion (41.5 %) was borne by excessive drinkers and their family members.
Government agencies paid most of the health care expenses attributable to excessive alcohol use (61%), while drinkers and their families bore most of the cost of lost productivity (55%), primarily in the form of lower household income.
According to Dr. Frieden, binge drinking is reported by about one out of seven adults in the United States "and by far is the most common pattern of alcohol consumption in underage youth. However, most binge drinkers are not alcohol dependent, and there are a number of scientifically proven strategies that can reduce excess drinking, including binge drinking. This is possible both at the community level as well as [in] clinical settings, where it’s possible that doctors, nurses, and others can intervene to advise patients in ways that will reduce their risk of progressing to harmful drinking over time."
He concluded his remarks by saying that he hopes the release of the study’s findings "will remind us of the public health impact of excess alcohol consumption and challenge us to implement evidence-based methods of ensuring that we reduce these substantial harms in future years," Dr. Frieden said. "It’s possible that by implementing evidence-based policies we can not only save money but also save lives and promote stability in our community."
The study is scheduled to appear in the November 2011 issue of the journal.
The study was developed in collaboration with the CDC and the Lewin Group and was funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the CDC Foundation.